Playoff Preview: Spruce Kings take on Penticton in first round of 2024 Rogers BCHL playoffs
Photo Credit: Vicki Brown
PENTICTON- The most wonderful time of the year as some people call it, the Rogers BCHL Playoffs kick off on April 5, 2024, and the Prince George Spruce Kings are in the thick of the action.
The Spruce Kings, who finished eighth in the Interior Conference, will hit the road and take on the Penticton Vees in the first round of the 2024 Rogers BCHL Playoffs.
The Spruce Kings finished their regular season with a record of 16-35-3-0. The Penticton Vees would end their season at the top of the Interior Conference with a 38-10-3-3 record. The two teams saw each other six times during the regular season, the Spruce Kings held a 1-5-0-0 record against the Vees during the year.
The one win the Spruce Kings grabbed against the Vees this season came at Kopar Memorial Arena. Fans will remember a dominating performance back in January. The Spruce Kings jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the second period, beating Penticton 7-4.
Playoff Schedule
GAME 1 – Friday April 5th – Prince George @ Penticton – 7 PM
GAME 2 – Saturday April 6th – Prince George @ Penticton – 7 PM
GAME 3 – Tuesday April 9th – Penticton @ Prince George – 7 PM
GAME 4 – Wednesday April 10th – Penticton @ Prince George – 7 PM
**GAME 5 – Friday April 12th – Prince George @ Penticton – 7 PM
**GAME 6 – Sunday April 14th – Penticton @ Prince George – 6 PM **GAME 7 – Tuesday April 16th – Prince George @ Penticton – 7 PM
HOME GAMES IN BOLD
**IF NECESSARY
The Spruce Kings will hit the road for the opening weekend of the 2024 Rogers BCHL playoffs. The South Okanagan Events Centre (SOEC) has historically been a hard place to play, not only for the Spruce Kings but the entire BCHL, but that pattern has changed slightly this season. The Vees had a winning streak of over 600 days without a home loss snapped back in December, now Penticton enters the playoffs losing three straight on home ice for the first time since November of 2012.
The Spruce Kings are trending the other way. After struggling on the road for the majority of the season, Prince George has corrected their issues away from Kopar Memorial Arena, evening the Vernon Vipers last Friday at Kal tire Place.
The Spruce Kings will need to keep up with a high-powered Vees offence in the first round, Penticton scored 202 goals in the regular season, one of only five teams to achieve that this season. Spruce Kings forwards Kilian McGregor-Bennett, Linden Makow, Owen Goodbrand and others will be critical for Prince George in the first round to succeed.
Regular Season point leaders
Prince George Spruce Kings
Kilian McGregor-Bennett: 52GP 20G 18A 38P
Owen Goodbrand: 54GP 12G 24A 36P
Linden Makow: 48GP 16G 14A 34P
Kai Greaves: 53GP 5G 27A 32P
J.R. Perdion: 48GP 14G 14A 28P
Penticton Vees
Callum Arnott: 54GP 27G 26A 53P
Billy Renfrew: 51GP 20G 32A 52P
Thomas Pichette: 53GP 18G 24A 42P
Connor MacPherson: 54GP 11G 31A 42P
Ryan MacPherson: 54GP 16G 22A 38P
Games one and two from the SOEC will start at 7:00 pm, and Games three and four at Kopar Memorial Arena will also start at 7:00 pm. If you haven’t got your tickets yet to support the Spruce Kings during the playoffs, you can do that by following this link: https://www.sprucekings.bc.ca/tickets